JP2000214884A - Sound recording apparatus - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To record data with a file structure intended by a user. SOLUTION: In this sound recording device for recording sound data on a file-by-file basis in a record medium 7, a system control part 6 forms a control means, that prepares a fixed file when a recording mode is set up and causes sound data to be recorded in the file after the file is opened, stops the recording with the file left open if a pause mode set up during the recording, and causes an electric circuit to go into a low-current state with the file left open, if the pause continues longer than a fixed time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an audio recording device, and more particularly to an audio recording device that converts an analog signal into a digital signal and records the digital signal on a recording medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, an audio signal obtained by a microphone or the like is converted into a digital signal and recorded on a recording medium such as a semiconductor memory. There has been proposed a digital audio recording / reproducing apparatus called a so-called digital recorder which converts the audio into audio data from a speaker or the like.

In such an audio recording and reproducing apparatus,
Although a semiconductor memory such as a flash memory is used as a recording medium, when recording audio data, it is common practice to manage audio data in file units because the memory can be used efficiently and management is easy. is there.

[0004] For example, when a recording button is pressed during recording, a newly created file is opened, voice data is recorded in the file, and when the stop button is pressed, the file is closed, and the continuously recorded voice is recorded. The data is recorded as one file in a semiconductor memory or the like.

[0005]

However, in the above-described audio recording / reproducing apparatus, when the recording and stopping operations are repeatedly performed, a separate file is created each time and then the recording of the audio data is performed. However, when the user wants to record as one file, there is a problem that the file is recorded as a plurality of files.

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and has as its object to provide a voice recording apparatus that records data in a file configuration intended by a user.

[0007]

In order to achieve the above object, a first audio recording apparatus of the present invention records audio data on a recording medium in file units, and a recording mode is set. When a predetermined file is created and the file is opened, the audio data is recorded in the file. When the pause mode is set in the recording state, the recording is stopped while the file is opened, and the recording is stopped. Control means for keeping the electric circuit in a low current state while the file is opened when the operation has continued for a predetermined time or more.

According to a second audio recording device of the present invention, in the first audio recording device, a file whose electric circuit remains open in a low current state is closed when a predetermined operation is performed. Control.

[0009]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The digital audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment includes a microphone 1 for converting audio into an electric signal, and an audio output from the microphone 1 is amplified by a connected microphone amplifier (AMP) 2. Has become. The output of the microphone amplifier 2 is input to an A / D converter (A / D) 4 via a low-pass filter (LPF) 3, and the analog audio signal amplified by the microphone amplifier 2 is An unnecessary frequency band is cut by the low-pass filter 3 in order to prevent the generation of aliasing noise, and is input to the A / D converter 4.

The A / D converter 4 converts an audio signal, which is an analog signal, into a digital signal and then inputs the digital signal to a digital signal processing unit (DSP) 5. Further, a control circuit (not shown) for controlling the operation of the digital signal processing unit 5 is connected to the digital signal processing unit 5, and a data I / O buffer for temporarily storing encoded data. Is connected. The control circuit is connected to and controlled by a system control unit 6 described later.

The digital signal processing unit 5 is controlled by a system control unit 6 during recording to control the A / D converter 4
Compression-converts (encodes) the audio signal converted to a digital signal into data of a certain format, and the encoded data is temporarily recorded in the data I / O buffer,
Thereafter, the data is transmitted to the system control unit 6.

On the other hand, at the time of reproduction, the digital signal processing unit 5 is controlled by the system control unit 6 to perform a process of expanding and converting (decoding) the data from the system control unit 6, and Is a D / A converter (D / A
A) The data is input to 9.

The audio signal converted to an analog signal by the D / A converter 9 is amplified through a low-pass filter (not shown) that cuts unnecessary frequency bands to reduce quantization noise. The power is input to a power amplifier (AMP) 10 that drives a speaker. The audio signal amplified by the power amplifier 10 is converted into a sound and is emitted from a speaker 11 that emits the sound.

The system control section 6 is constituted by a microprocessor (CPU), controls the operation of each section of the audio recording / reproducing apparatus, creates a predetermined file when a recording mode is set, and stores the file. After opening the file, record the audio data in the same file.If the pause mode is set in the recording state, the recording is stopped while the file is open. The electric circuit is caused to be in a low current state while the electric circuit remains open in the low current state, and further serves as a control means for controlling a file to be closed when a predetermined operation is performed. Has become.

The above-mentioned recording medium 7 and an address control circuit (not shown) are connected to the system control unit 6, and an appropriate address signal is supplied to the address control circuit in accordance with the operation of the operation input unit 19. In addition to the audio data supplied from the data I / O buffer, the recording date and time, index information, and the like are recorded on the recording medium 7 based on a predetermined format, or the data recorded on the recording medium 7 is read out. The data is supplied to the digital signal processing unit 5 via the data I / O buffer.

The recording medium 7 is composed of a semiconductor memory, and the inside thereof is composed of a temporary recording medium section and a main recording medium section. This temporary recording medium unit is, for example, an SRA
Devices that can read and write data at a relatively high speed as compared with the main recording medium, such as M, EEPROM, high dielectric memory, and flash memory, are used. On the other hand, for the main recording medium, for example, a flash memory, a magneto-optical disk, a magnetic disk, a magnetic tape, or the like is used. In the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment, the flash memory is used for both the temporary recording medium unit and the main recording medium unit.

The address, which is the information indicating the recording position of the audio information, is stored in a recording medium 7 composed of a semiconductor memory detachable from the audio recording / reproducing apparatus, for example, a memory card. Alternatively, the information may be stored in a semiconductor memory (internal storage unit) (not shown) attached to an address control circuit provided on the recording / reproducing apparatus side.

As described above, the operation input unit 19 is connected to the system control unit 6, and the display 13 for displaying the operation mode and the like is connected via the drive circuit 12.

The operation input unit 19 includes various operation buttons,
That is, a record button REC, a play button PLAY, a stop button STOP, a fast forward button FF, a fast rewind button R
In addition to the EW, it includes an I-mark button, an E-mark button, and the like (not shown) for recording a predetermined index mark. The details will be described later.

Further, the system control section 6 is connected to a power supply control section 14 for controlling a battery (not shown) for supplying a power supply voltage to the entire audio recording / reproducing apparatus, so as to control the power supply. It has become.

Next, the operation of the recording process in the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment having such a configuration will be described with reference to FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. When the system control unit 6 detects that the recording button REC has been pressed, the system control unit 6 executes this recording process, newly creates a file (step S1), and performs a recording process on the digital signal processing unit (DSP) 5. A command to transfer the command is transferred (step S2). Next, the system control unit 6 updates the current position to display on the display unit 13 (step S3) and changes the display (step S4).

Next, the system control unit 6 detects whether any switch such as an operation button in the operation unit input unit 19 has been pressed (step S5), and if any of the operation buttons has not been pressed, it is determined. For example, the operations of steps S3 to S5 are repeated until the remaining capacity of the recording medium 7 becomes zero.

In step S5, when the system control section 6 detects that the operation button has been pressed, it first detects whether or not the operated button is the record button REC (step S6). If the recording REC is pressed, the audio data recording temporary stop processing subroutine "A" (see FIG. 3) is executed (step S7).

If it is determined in step S6 that the operated button is not the record button REC, then the stop button S
It is detected whether or not it is TOP (step S8), and if the stop button STOP has been pressed, the audio data recording temporary stop processing subroutine "B" (see FIG. 4) is executed (step S9).

If it is determined in step S8 that the operated button is not the stop button STOP, it is next detected whether or not the rewind button REW has been operated (step S10). The subroutine "C" (see FIG. 5) for the quick reverse process is executed (step S1).
1).

In step S10, if the operated button is not the fast rewind button REW, the fast forward button F
F is detected (step S12). If the fast-forward button FF is pressed, a fast-forward process is performed in which the operation positions are sequentially fast-forwarded at an appropriate speed (for example, 20 times the speed at the time of reproduction) (step S12). S13).

In step S12, if the fast forward button FF has not been pressed, the system control unit 6 reads the data recorded from the recording medium 7 in file units and sends it to the digital signal processing unit (DSP) 5. The audio data is decompressed, and a reproduction process for sending audio information to the D / A converter 9 is started (step S14).

The audio data recording temporary stop processing subroutine "A" shown in step S7 is shown in FIG.
This will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the system control unit 6 checks a flag (REC_PAUSE flag) indicating suspension of audio data recording (step S2).
0), if the REC_PAUSE flag is "1", it is determined that the audio data recording is in a pause state, the flag is cleared (step S21), and the process jumps to step S2 (step S22). .

In step S20, the REC
If the _PAUSE flag is not "1", the system control unit 6 sets the REC_PAUSE flag (Step S23) and transmits a stop command to the digital signal processing unit (DSP) 5 (Step S24). Thus, each time the recording button REC is pressed, the recording state and the pause state are set alternately.

At this time, the system control unit 6 does not close the file. Thereafter, the system control unit 6 changes the display of the display 13 so as to indicate that the audio data recording is in the pause state (step S2).
5), a predetermined LED blinks (step S26), and the process returns to step S5.

In the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment, if no operation button is pressed for a predetermined time after the audio data is temporarily stopped,
The electric circuit of the audio recording / reproducing apparatus is set to a low current state while the file is opened. The setting to the low current state is performed by the system control unit 6 controlling the power supply control unit 14.

When the operation button is pressed in the low current state, the low current state is released, and then the audio recording / reproducing apparatus enters a normal operation state. After the recording of the voice data is paused, the operation button is not pressed for a predetermined time, the state becomes a low current state, and when a predetermined operation button other than the recording button is pressed, the above-mentioned open state is maintained. After the file is closed, processing corresponding to the operated operation button is performed. The process of closing this file will be exemplified in a temporary stop process subroutine "B" described later.

Next, the audio data recording temporary stop processing subroutine "B" shown in step S9 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. First, the system control unit 6 checks a flag (STOP flag) indicating whether or not the stop button STOP has been pressed once (step S3).
0), if the STOP flag is not "1", it is determined that the stop button STOP has been pressed for the first time, the STOP flag is set (step S31), and the digital signal processor (DSP) 5 (Step S32). At this time, the system control unit 6
Holds the file opened on the recording medium 7 without closing it, and stores the attribute information of the file in the internal storage unit (RAM) of the system control unit 6 (CPU).
Leave it in the storage.

Thereafter, the system controller 6 displays the display 1 so as to indicate that the recording of the audio data is temporarily stopped.
While changing the display of step 3 (step S33), a predetermined LED blinks (step S34), and the process returns to step S5.

In step S30, the STO
If the P flag is "1", the system control unit 6
Clears the STOP flag (step S3
5) A stop command is transmitted to the digital signal processor (DSP) 5 (step S36). At this time, the system control unit 6 closes the file after recording attribute information such as a recording start date and time, a recording end date and time, and a recording time in a header portion of the file opened on the recording medium 7, and further closes the file. The storage unit (RAM) inside the system control unit 6 is cleared.

Here, the file structure in the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
As described above, at the time of recording audio data (at the time of recording), a predetermined file is created on the recording medium 7 under the control of the system control unit 6, and the audio data is recorded in a predetermined recording area. However, FIG. 6 (a)
As shown in the figure, attribute information such as a file number and a recording start date and time is recorded in a file header portion of the file. At this time, that is, when the file is open, the system control unit 6 stores information corresponding to the attribute information in an internal storage unit such as a RAM.

As described above, when a file is open, attribute information of the file, such as the recording start date and time, the position where the file is recorded, the length of the file, etc., are stored in the internal RAM of the system control unit 6 (CPU). Therefore, the data access time can be extremely short due to the characteristics of the RAM formed inside the CPU.

On the other hand, when the recording of the audio data is completed (recording is completed), that is, when the recording process shown in FIG. 2 is completed, the system control unit 6 causes the file storing the predetermined audio data to be recorded on the recording medium 7. And record the attribute information such as the recording start date and time, the recording end date and time, and the recording time in the header of the file as described above, and then close the file (see FIG. 6B). At the same time, the storage unit (RAM) inside the system control unit 6 is cleared.

As described above, when the recording is completed, the file is closed and the internal RAM of the CPU (system control unit 6) is closed.
The attribute information of the file temporarily stored in the file is also cleared. Therefore, in order to start recording again, a step of searching for a file or the like is necessary, and the file is opened and held, that is, the RA inside the CPU.
It takes a little time to start up as compared with the state where the attribute information of the file is stored in M. Such a rise time is a conventional sound recording / reproducing apparatus, and does not cause any trouble in a normal recording.
For example, when recording and stopping are frequently repeated in a short time such as dictation recording, recording,
In a system in which the opening and closing of the file are repeated in response to the stop, the voice recording / reproducing apparatus may not be able to follow the operation speed of the user, and a phenomenon such as a head cut may occur.

In consideration of such circumstances, the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the present embodiment holds the file storing the audio data in an open state without closing it until the recording is completely completed as described above. At the same time, since the attribute information of the file is stored and stored in the internal RAM of the CPU, it is possible to reliably cope with the case where the recording and stopping operations are frequently repeated in a short time. ing.

Referring back to FIG. 4, after closing the file in step S36, the system control unit 6 changes the display on the display 13 (step S37), and exits from the entire recording process shown in FIG.

Next, the fast return processing subroutine "C" shown in step S11 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The processing in this subroutine "C" is based on the premise that the audio recording / reproducing apparatus is in a recording state or a recording pause state.

First, the system control unit 6 transmits a REW command to the digital signal processing unit (DSP) 5 (step S40), and then detects whether the fast-return button has been released (step S41). . Here, if the fast rewind button has not been released, the system control unit 6 detects whether or not it is the head of the file (step S42). If it is not the head of the file, the current position information is updated (step S43), the display on the display 13 is changed (step S44), and the process returns to step S41.

If it is determined in step S42 that the file is the head of the file, the system control unit 6 controls the digital signal processing unit 5 to sound an alarm from the speaker 11.
(Step S45), and further transmits a stop command to the digital signal processing unit 5 (step S45).
46). In addition, the display of the display 13 is changed to indicate that the recording of the audio data is in a pause state (step S47), and a predetermined LED is blinked (step S48).
Jump to 5.

On the other hand, if the system control unit 6 determines in step S41 that the fast-return button has been released, it sends a stop command to the digital signal processing unit 5 (step S49). Then, after updating the current position information (step S50), a reproduction command is transmitted to the digital signal processing unit 5 (step S51), and a display indicating that the reproduction is being performed is displayed on the display unit 13 (step S50).
52), it is detected whether or not the stop button STOP has been pressed (step S53).

In step S53, when the system control unit 6 determines that the stop button STOP has not been pressed, it detects whether the end of the file has been reached (step S54). In step S53, the stop button S
When the TOP is pressed and when the end of the file is reached in step S54, the system control unit 6 transmits a stop command to the digital signal processing unit 5 (DSP) (step S55), and The display of the display 13 is changed so as to indicate that the data recording is in the halt state (step S56), and a predetermined LED is blinked (step S57). Then, the process returns to the step S5. I do.

As described above, according to the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of this embodiment, recording of audio data can be temporarily stopped without providing a special operation button. In addition, since the file is not closed even if the electric circuit goes into a low current state due to a longer pause time during recording, data is recorded in a file configuration intended by the user, and usability during reproduction or the like is improved. improves. ,

[0049]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide a voice recording apparatus for recording data in a file configuration intended by a user.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an audio recording / reproducing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an operation of the entire recording process in the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a subroutine "A" for temporarily stopping audio data recording by a recording button in the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a subroutine "B" for temporarily stopping audio data recording by a stop button in the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a subroutine “C” of fast-return processing in the audio recording / reproducing apparatus of the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a file structure in the audio recording / reproducing device of the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 Reference Signs List 1 microphone 2 microphone amplifier 3 low-pass filter 4 A / D converter 5 digital signal processing unit (DSP) 6 system control unit 7 recording medium 9 D / A converter 10 power amplifier 11 speaker 12 drive circuit 13 display 14 power supply control unit 19 Operation input section

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An audio recording apparatus for recording audio data on a recording medium in file units, wherein when a recording mode is set, a predetermined file is created, and after the file is opened, the audio data is recorded in the file. When the pause mode is set in the recording state, stop recording with the above file open,
An audio recording apparatus comprising: a control unit for setting an electric circuit to a low current state while the file is opened when the stop state continues for a predetermined time or more. 2. The audio recording apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control means controls the electronic circuit to close a file which is kept open in a low current state when a predetermined operation is performed.